My 25th Birthday and more..

Well it's been a while since I posted-time seems to escape me-I guess being busy working two to three days, watching a friend of mine's child usually once a week (who is at the very difficult age at our house with many temptations (mainly the stairs that I can't keep her off of and the fireplace), trying to manage house (which I am quite poor at) and trying to do something fun with Natalie at least once a week. We recently started Kindermusik class-tomorrow will be her third class-she went once with me to the night class where there were only two others and then once with my mom in the morning where there were 12 others...I think I will continue taking her to the night classes because bigger crowds overwhelm her. Natalie takes a long time to warm up to new situations and is extremely shy until she gets to know you-however then she is quite the ham and likes attention. She actually has very much my personality-of course if that's the case I dread the pre-teen years! Anyways, the class is great-though it's not cheap, it is something that she enjoys and talks about often and I hope that it will increase her socialization skills and help her developmentally. I look forward to next year where hopefully I can enroll her in soccer, gymnastics, or dance.

This past week I have reintroduced potty training to her and she has been doing really well-she isn't really pooping on the potty like she was the first time, but she is more successful with peeing--the past day and a half she hasn't been quite as excited about it, not wanting to go to the potty but once she gets there it's almost always a success. She still has accidents-I think it would be easier if I were home all the time and could just put her in underwear-but she has still been wearing diapers or Pull-ups. For her reward she gets one M&M (which you can guarantee she will pick a green one) and a sticker that she puts on a piece of paper. She is very proud!

A week and a half ago I celebrated my 25th birthday-it was a nice day. On Friday, my friends Allison and Libby took me out to my favorite restaurant Rocky's and then out to my favorite little ice-cream spot The Widow's Walk (it's in Indiana on the Ohio River at this Victorian house)-it was nice to get away for a little bit and have some girl time. I am grateful for my many wonderful friends! On Saturday, Steven, Natalie, and I met my parents at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner because I had been really wanting their corn cakes (unfortunately, that's just a side dish and I didn't touch my main entree)..but the corn cakes were delicious and then we went to their house for Dairy Queen ice cream cake and presents...I got shopping money from Steven, his Dad and Sherry, and his grandfather-I am thinking of using it on some new shoes. From my parent's I got several new maternity shirts, a pair of capris, a monogrammed makeup bag (she must know how I love monogramming!), some candles, and some personalized thankyou notes and this great pregnancy pillow that I love-I like to hug something while I sleep and have something between my legs and this pillow lets me do both-the only downside is it's a huge C-not leaving much room for Steven! I haven't had many struggles with insomnia though (which I often suffer from). Thanks to everyone for making my birthday special!

I went to the doctor today for a quick check up-I am 16 weeks and in a month we get to find out the sex-yay! I have lost another pound-probably only a total of 3 or 4 lb loss-and the heartbeat sounded great! This pregnancy so far has seemed to go by faster-probably because I have other things to devote my attention to! My nausea has been better the past few days but I have been getting headaches almost every day-Tylenol has helped out a lot!

Last week, there was a ceremony for Vicki at Easter Seals-where Steven's mom used to work-and it was beautiful and very touching. They named their Resource Room after her and hung a picture up-several people got up both family, friends, and coworkers and spoke of the impact she had on their life-what a legacy she left. It has been over 2 years since she's passed- I hate that I didn't get to know the Vicki everyone spoke of-she was truly a remarkable woman. I had very few conversations with her-I remember the first time meeting her and we spoke about our connection in the therapy world-though I was just beginning as a student at Belmont-I also remember her making Steven and I milkshakes and a few other treats. It had always been very hard for Steven to see his Mom fade and I know the glimpses he saw of her always meant a lot. That first year we started dating she declined a lot but she was always very sweet and affectionate to me-we went to Orlando with Steven's family around Christmas time-and I remember her holding my hand watching CMT together-who would have known that that would have been one of my own most treasured memories of her. Even as her health declined, most of the time when she saw me she would want to hold my hand and put her hand on me-that meant a lot to me. From the ways others spoke of her I aspire to be half the mother and wife she was.

Lake Cumberland with the Lifegroup

This past weekend the lifegroup that Steven and I belong to went on a little getaway while all of our children stayed behind-we had a great time and many memories were made. We left Thursday morning and went grocery shopping and got settled in-we stayed in Jamestown. The place we were staying was great-it had five bedrooms with all queen beds (except one room that had twins) and each with their own private full bathroom, two kitchens, two living rooms-one was a game room with a pool table, darts, and ping-pong, and a beautiful deck with hot tub. On Thursday after we got settled in we went to a swimming hole that was located about two minutes away and the girls laid out on the rafts while the guys were jumping off rocks and came back to prepare dinner-we grilled out. After dinner we relaxed, hung out, and got in the hot tub-the first night I was able to get in bc. the temp wasn't hot yet-only 99 degrees.

Friday morning we headed out pretty early with our packed lunches and went to the Lake Cumberland Resort Park-first everyone went on a horseback ride (except myself who stayed behind not wanting to take the chance of something bad happening-fortunately for myself it wasn't too long of a wait). Afterwards we stopped at a scenic overlook ate lunch and then headed on a 3 mile hike with some strenuous hills-Tiffany and Ben continued on the trail a little further. After I got to the top of one of our big uphill hikes-I stopped for a breather and felt the baby move! I was pretty excited about that! When we got back in the afternoon we headed out to the lake for another swim and the guys got a little braver jumping off some cliffs. We stayed in that night too-just hanging out and playing Rockband-Matt and Kirsten joined us this evening.

Saturday morning we headed out early because we had a 10 person speedboat rented for the whole day and wanted to maximize our time/money. I had a bit of a rough start-the night before I had gotten zero sleep because of my struggles with insomnia and was very emotional and had a bit of a breakdown because I was feeling left out-not by anyone but by the fact that I couldn't do anything-I wasn't able to get in the hot tub, have any drinks, horseback ride, and now I couldn't tube, kneeboard, or ski (which everyone had a great time doing-I enjoyed watching people fall!). I knew this ahead of time and know it is a small sacrifice to pay to carry a child but it had just hit me. I ended up having a great time on the boat-we went for some nice rides and got out to swim and I liked just being on the water/boat. It is one of our goals in life to have a boat and lakehouse so that as our children grow we can build many memories with them on the lake and getaway often. Saturday evening we were wiped out from being on the lake for 8 hours-we went to a restaurant that was recommended to us-but I don't believe we will ever go back there-the food took over an hour to get to us, some food was undercooked, etc but we still had a nice time. By the time the food got to us-I was pretty nauseated and didn't want to touch my entree-I ate some bites of my side items but Steven was very thoughtful and went and got me an apple (which was the only thing that sounded good) at the grocery store. After dinner we watched the olympics for a bit and went to bed early.

On Sunday Steven and Ben made breakfast-pancakes, bacon, and eggs and we had a nice big breakfast together (besides the heated conversation on tipping-haha) and packed our bags and left. It was such a great time to spend together-I am very grateful for my lifegroup and the friendships that have evolved from it. I look forward to many other trips like this hopefully! Also, thank you to Mom and Dad who watched Natalie Thursday to Sunday for me-you all are the best!

Happy Anniversary!

It is hard to believe that five years ago today Steven and I were getting ready to walk down the aisle and take the big "plunge"-I am so happy that we did and have never looked back. I am truly blessed by my marriage to Steven and I often don't give him the credit that he deserves. As many of you know I have a really bad habit of pointing out his flaws or stories that I find amusing that might embarass him--it is a struggle of mine that I need to work on and I am so thankful for his patience and him putting up with me. He is such a wonderful father to Natalie and they have a great relationship-I never get sick of watching them play together or have quiet moments where it's just the two of them. Besides being a great father he is a wonderful husband who is patient, kind, loving, affectionate, extremely hardworking, and lately has been extremely helpful-unloading the dishwasher, picking up, etc without me even having to ask! It has been great. I am proud that he is my husband and grateful that I get to spend the rest of my life with him by my side raising our family and hopefully growing old together. I am so in love with my husband and am going to make an effort this year to show him more so this year!

The Circle of Life

(I know the pics are blurry-they are pictures of pictures-so not the best quality-the bottom picture the baby's hands are by it's face-he or she was very active!)
Well I just got back from my first doctor's visit and am 11 weeks 6 days along-the baby looks very healthy with a strong heartbeat and we were fortunate to get an ultrasound-I found a plus for going to the doctor's office that I go to now--you get two ultrasounds one at 12 weeks and one at 20. I need to download the picture of the baby and will try to add it to this post today..it's amazing how developed they are even at 12 weeks. Steven and I both think it's a girl (I don't know if it is a real gut feeling I think Steven is preparing himself for a girl and I would like to have another girl--though I know if the baby is boy I will still be just as happy)...and we had been tossing out names--one of our biggest contenders was Delaney because I thought it was a nice update on Steven's mothers middle name who passed away 2.5 years ago (which was Elaine) until I looked up the meaning and it said "dark one's child or child of dark defiance"-it also had a meaning of from the alder grove-which I can deal with but I am sorry I don't want to give myself the omen that my child will be defiant and satan's child! We got a kick out of that-and made our decision on that name easier! We also both really like the name Jillian-(my middle name is Jill too)..so we will see!
Work has been difficult for me lately--there have been so many people pass away recently-I would say at least 10 in the past month-and most of whom I had developed relationships with. I have difficulty separating my emotions from work-which I don't think is a bad thing-one of my favorite parts of my job is getting to meet and hear about different people's lives and hoping that in some small way I can help ease their pain and loneliness while they are in the nursing home. I have only known my grandmother and Steven's mother to have passed (and unfortunately I didn't get to know Steven's mom before she was ill) and have difficulty coping with loss. I know that both my grandmother and Steven's mom are in heaven rejoicing but I don't know about the people that I work with. It makes it much easier when you know if they have a relationship with Jesus and are in a better place. There was one sweet lady that I worked with back in October when I started who became independent with all of her daily activities and I would always walk by her room and greet her..well I guess about two weeks ago I noticed how ill she had been and I felt called to go in her room, hold her hand and pray for her while she slept-I rarely feel promptings that I think are from the Holy Spirit-but I felt like this was for sure-but of course I ignored it because I was busy doing something else and I regret not acting on it-it could have given her peace and comfort just to know someone was there praying for her. Anyways-this has been a big tangent but has been helpful for me to get all of that out...will write later!

Paci progress

I am so happy to say that Natalie is now over her paci!!! I got rid of it on Thursday and today she didn't cry over it once--the only time that she has cried for her paci is at bedtime/naptime with the longest crying spell was about 20 minutes. I am so relieved! I was so worried about how it would go. Now to get her into other big girl routines--such as not playing with her poop! If she poops during naptime she takes it off and then proceeds to play in it--today I heard her playing in her bed but wasn't listening to what she was saying and then she fell asleep..well I went in to peek on her this afternoon--and there was poop everywhere-thankfully it was contained in the crib but her hands were covered in dry poop......oh memories I will have to remind her of when she is older! I know that this is a semi-common problem with other children and I have heard of duct-taping the diaper which I probably need to do-but it is not often that she does it. Anyways, the doctor appointment went fine-I am almost 10 weeks along now-and go for my first ultrasound on July 31. This pregnancy has seemed so much more real to me I think because I know what to expect and it's not quite as surreal. I am so glad that I am 1/4 of the way through the pregnancy--I said that to Steven the other day and he was shocked at how little time he feels we have left--our two biggest things before baby #2 comes is to get a new vehicle for me--I think unfortunately I will be a 25 year old minivan mom-I swore I would never drive one-but Steven is very set on it and there are several advantages and to get Natalie into a big girl bed--we are waiting to find out what we are having to decide whether her new bedroom set should be a full or twin--if I did the twin I think I would want to get a trundle bed. Anyways, that's enough blabbing for now-just thought I would update everyone on the pacifier progress!

Today is D-Day

Well I finally got the courage this morning to get rid of Natalie's favorite object in the whole world--her beloved paci. I am off until next Wednesday and thought there probably won't be much of a better opportunity. It has been a bit of a rough morning--Natalie woke up early this morning (6:45) and I am also watching an 11 month old today so the combination of things hasn't been perfect. So at like 9:30 I packed them all up-I am sure there are still several floating around the house-and I just laid her down for her nap at 12:25--it is now 12:35 and after 10 minutes of screaming and crying she is starting to quiet down a little. She usually goes to her paci for longer car trips and sleep times--sometimes she will manage to sneak it in at other times. Anyways, I think I will have a rough week ahead of me--prayers will be appreciated!

Just a couple sidenotes--

Just wanted to update everyone on my pregnancy--things seem to be going well-I go for my first appointment Friday but it is just for medical history and labwork-nothing too exciting. I am now a little over 8 weeks and from what I remember with Natalie I think I am not getting as sick as often-I don't have much of an appetite for most food-especially meat but only have nausea when I get hungry. Will keep posted on further developments..

Also, this past week we got rid of all the wallpaper in our house-we had painters in our house for 3 days-which wasn't so pleasant but now all the paper's gone and paint has replaced it. I am happy with it but now our house is full of dust! They painted our bathroom, laundry room, repaired our entryway, and painted up the stairs. We really enjoy our house and are happy that it is coming together to match our taste. So we have now completed projects for a while-our next step will be to work on the flooring-both carpet (where our dogs have ruined) and linoleum.

Anyways just wanted to add those tidbits! Will post pics of the house and Lake Cumberland trip later!